The Stakes are Higher this Time: A Second Rising
by cto4Wrin11989
Summary: So the first synopsis didn't generate many readers, and though there aren't many more TDIR readers left, just please frikin read my story! (Work In Progress, 6 Chapters) Please read and review.
1. Suspicions

CHAPTER 1: Suspicions  
  
Will Stanton looked up from pulling weeds in front of his family's house. It was summertime, and sweltering hot, but nevertheless he still liked to help out his mom with the upkeep. He had sensed something ahead of him, coming down the road. No ordinary man could have sensed it; the Thing was making no sound or smell. But Will was an Old One, blessed with extraordinary gifts that allowed him to do such things.  
Indeed there was someone coming down the street. A rather tall man, with a deeply carved face, hawk-like nose, and a great head of untamed white hair was strolling toward Will. He was wearing a big, thick black overcoat that reached to the ground and was walking with an intent step and determined look. Will grinned and stood up, setting down his small tools and pulling off his gardening gloves.  
The walking man approached Will and broke into a small smile in spite of himself.  
Will said, "Hallo, Merriman."  
Merriman Lyon responded, "Hallo, Will. I haven't seen you in a while. Just coming to see how you were doing."  
Will kept on grinning and said, "Merriman, I know that isn't the reason you came here. But you're right; we haven't seen each other since I was 11. Guess how old I am now."  
Merriman arched one eyebrow. "Seventeen, with your eighteenth birthday coming up in midwinter."  
Will stood proudly on the spot, pulling himself up to his full height of 6'3" and looking Merriman at eye level. "That's right, and then I'm going to move out and find a place for my girl and me."  
Merriman arched both eyebrows this time. "Girl? Will Stanton, you mean to say that you have a lady-friend? Have you told her about you?"  
"Hey, not everyone can have the Lady, now can they, Merriman? Yeah, I found myself the perfect one, the one, in fact. And yes, I've told her about me, the Old One, me."  
"And...?"  
"She understands perfectly, and won't tell anyone, even though I don't see why not because it's all over. I promise."  
A seventeen-year-old girl came out of Will's house then, just as Merriman was about to retort. She was 5'5", had long dark brown hair and blue eyes, and was wearing a short red summer dress, red and white flip flops, and a dazzling smile.  
So this is her, I presume? Merriman used the Old One trick of talking in the Old Speech in Will's mind, a form of telepathy that only Old Ones possess.  
Will took his eyes from the girl, looked at Merriman and said aloud and in plain English, "It is." He smirked as the girl came into the garden to meet them.  
Merriman looked surprised when Will responded aloud, and wondered why.  
The girl stood by Will and gave him one of the two cold lemonade glasses she was holding. "Hi, Will. Hi. Oh, are you Mr. Lyon? Will has told me some things about you. I'm Anne Bet, how are you?" She extended her free hand to shake Merriman's.  
He kindly took it and shook it gently. Then he said, in his usual accent in contrast to Anne's American accent, "It's a pleasure to meet you, Miss Bet. I'm fine, thank you. And yourself?"  
"Oh, just fine. Would you like some lemonade? I have a whole pitcher inside." She said as she offered her glass to Merriman.  
"Actually, that sounds very good in this heat."  
Anne smiled at him and then Will, and led them both inside to the table where the pitcher of lemonade was perched.  
Still wondering why Will hadn't answered his question telepathically, Merriman tried again. Will, is anything wrong?  
Will looked at him and raised an eyebrow. "No, nothing is wrong, Merriman. But if you really want to know," they both took a seat at the table while Anne poured herself some lemonade. "Anne can communicate like that too, telepathically and in the Old Speech."  
Merriman swung around to look at Anne. She was smiling. It's true, Mr. Lyon. Will taught me and we practiced it a lot. Now I can talk like this normally.  
Merriman smiled, also. "I should've known. But that's truly remarkable, Miss Bet. No one has ever accomplished that before. How did you do it?"  
Anne sat down next to Will and he put his arm around her waist. "I had a marvelous teacher," she said as she sipped and glanced at Will. "And, please, call me Anne."  
Merriman nodded. "And, please, call me Merriman." he said. He, by that time, had picked up on the vibes between Will and Anne. It seemed as though Will really had found the perfect girl for him.  
"So, I don't think the only reason for your visit was to check up on me, Merriman. I know you all too well to take that as a reason. Would you care to explain yourself?" Will asked, a faint smile playing about his lips.  
"Well, I guess you do know me all too well. I was actually planning on staying in this part of the country for some time; I've rented a house out for a couple of months. I may even stay here permanently; if it really lives up to how good you say it is, Will. I also really do have something I need to tell you- but it won't become important for a number of weeks, and I was originally planning on telling you then anyway, and not right away."  
Will looked suspicious. "Alright. Actually, Anne and I were going to go to America to meet her family for the next couple of weeks, so it looks as though you'd get what you want. But we're leaving in a couple of days, so careful I don't grow too curious and weasel it out of you before then." Then he smiled jokingly.  
"Ah, that I will. I know you perfectly well enough to know that if you want to know something, I'm going to have a hard time keeping it a secret. But, aha, Will Stanton, I may have more resistant powers than you know. You may not be able to get into my mind to find what you are looking for as easily now that I've had time off to build up resistance." He smiled jokingly also, and then there was a small enjoyable silence. Anne obviously understood everything they were talking about, because she did not look the least bit confused or curious. She had thoroughly learned everything about the Old Ones from Will's teaching.  
She smiled. "Well, Merriman, if you would like, since we're not leaving for a couple of days, we could certainly help you move in and get settled a little bit, if you wanted to. We aren't doing anything until we leave, and I'm afraid that the garden won't grow anything anymore from overworking it because Will has been trying to make it easy on his mother."  
Merriman smiled. "That would be lovely, Anne. Thank you. I haven't been in these parts for quite a long while, so maybe we could also plan some things to do together. I'm moving here to relax and get away from it all, so I think I'd enjoy picnics and that sort of thing."  
They all smiled as they sipped lemonade and chatted on for another half of an hour and Merriman left to settle some business about his rented house. They all arranged to meet back at the Stanton's the next morning. Will went back out to the garden and Anne busied herself making dinner for the two of them- the rest of the family was away on their own little outings for a good long while, at least until Will and Anne left for Washington, probably longer. 


	2. Questions & Concerns

CHAPTER 2: Questions & Concerns  
  
That night in the living room of the Stanton house, Merriman was the last thing on Will's and Anne's mind. They both donned pajamas, Will in boxer shorts and Anne in a small tank top and an old pair of Will's boxers. They were both nestled on the couch, gazing at the fire in the fireplace. Will was sprawled out, and Anne had her head on his chest, resting as she curled up close to his body, dozing off every now and then. Will held her in his arms and laid his head back on the pillow. He was thinking about what America would be like with Anne's family.  
He knew that they were very nice, and Anne had told him much about how they were and what they did. She had often reassured him that he had nothing to worry about, but Will was still anxious and thought about it as his main topic of thought.  
Anne stirred on his chest and woke up. She sat up and saw the slight frown on Will's face. "Not my family again.... Will, I told you, you'll be fine."  
Will erased the frown and smiled at her. "I suppose I will, but it's just hard to shake, you know?"  
"I know, but I didn't have the same problem as you because I knew your parents even before we got together, so I guess I can't quite know all that you're feeling. I know that it's going to be just fine." She laid down gently on top of him and put her arms around his neck to hug him close. "You'll be just fine." she said.  
He hugged her tighter and bent his head down to kiss her on the forehead. "Yeah," he said.  
She slid her head up towards his so she could kiss him on the lips romantically. He kissed her back and ran his hands up to her face to caress her cheek. They were interrupted by a fierce knock on the door. Will groaned and broke off their kiss. Anne slid off him and stood up to get the door. She didn't get far, though, when they heard the door break down from force and someone stomping their feet heavily as they entered. Anne's eyes got wide as she spun around to look at Will, an astonished look on her face.  
Will stood up immediately and breezed past her as he went to face the intruder at the door. Anne followed him closely. They both also noticed that the room had suddenly dropped a couple of degrees when whoever it was had entered.  
It can't be the Dark, can it, Will? They were vanquished, right? Will?  
I... I don't know. Will and Anne turned the corner and saw- 


	3. Visitors

CHAPTER 3: Visitors  
  
- One of Anne's quintuplet brothers, Colin. He was standing there bundled up in snowsuits and scarves to the hilt, but the part of his face you could see was red and wore a sheepish expression. Will and Anne both heaved a huge sigh of relief and went to help put the door back on.  
There was a monumental snowstorm brewing outside- that combined with the force of Colin trying to get out of the cold and into the house had knocked the much-used door down. The cold was easy enough to explain, the raging snowstorm had taken a firm grip on the house from the moment the door had broken down, but it might have already been creeping in from open windows upstairs, and Will and Anne just hadn't noticed.  
Will soon fixed the door and invited Colin in while Anne made cups of hot cocoa in the kitchen. Just as Colin had taken off his massive overcoats and scarves and had settled down on the couch warming himself by the fire, the rest of Anne's family turned up at the door. Derrick, Shane, and Jack also shed their winter wear and took seats by the fire. On the way back to the living room through the kitchen, Will stopped by Anne to help her carry five steaming mugs to her brothers.  
What are they doing here?  
Are you mad that they showed up?  
No, I'm just curious. Did you invite them?  
No. I have no idea why they're here- it's odd. I'm not sure what to make of it. I guess we'll find out soon enough, though. Will and Anne entered the living room and set down the hot cocoa on the coffee table. Everyone reached for a mug and started taking sips of the steaming hot liquid.  
Will cleared his throat after taking a sip out of his cocoa and said, "Hallo, guys. We, uh, weren't expecting you."  
Anne was more direct. "I'm so glad you guys are here- but why? Is there something wrong?"  
Anne, we already know one thing- today was scorching! And now- a snowstorm? I don't know what's going on, but something like this could only be the Dark. But I still don't understand! They were vanquished! Totally! Oh, I just can't make sense of it.  
It's okay, Will. We can think it over later. It doesn't look like there's any immediate danger or anything. It'll be fine until we can think about it tonight. Don't worry.  
"Ooh, that really hits the spot, thanks, Anne." Derrick said as he set down his mug. "And don't worry, nothing's wrong, but Mom and Dad won a trip on the radio and so they're taking it for the next week. They didn't want you to miss them, so they sent us up here to visit you guys before you went back to Washington. It'll just be another week, just a little delay. Is that okay?"  
Will smiled. "That's grand. It's great that you guys got up here."  
Colin smiled, too. "Yeah. And plus, us four always wanted to come and see England! It's gonna be so fun here, especially the people! We've wanted to come here, the main reason being the awesome accents!! It's just so fun!"  
Will broke into a bigger, genuine smile. "Actually, I find American accents quite interesting, also."  
Anne grinned. "You never told me that, Will."  
Will tried to fake an innocent look, but caught Anne looking at him in a joking manner, and laughed out loud. The night progressed, with seconds of hot cocoa all around, much stoking of the fire, and chuckles often. It was near midnight when they all realized how late it was and decided to turn in. Beds for the four boys were made two in Robin and Paul's old room, and two in James's and Will's old room. As usual, Will slept in the attic room and Anne slept in Barbara's room. The freak snowstorm eluded the minds of Will and Anne until they were both in bed and had time to think. When at first he thought of it, Will tried to contact Anne telepathically.  
Anne, what do you think of that snowstorm today? I really don't know what to make of it. Do you think Merriman will know? Oh, I hope the Dark hasn't found some unnatural way to come back, but then again, that's impossible, right? Right? Anne? From the lack of answer, Will figured that Anne was asleep, and eventually shook off the thought of anything happening to her. He was very uptight now that something unusual had happened and it had the slightest chance of being the Dark again, and now that he had Anne, he didn't want anything to happen like that again. He couldn't bear the thought of something happening to her.... He calmed himself down with thoughts of this whole mystery being solved tomorrow when he talked to Merriman about it....  
As soon as Anne's head hit the pillow, she was out like a light. The thought of the snowstorm didn't even pass through her mind. 


	4. The Dark May be Rising

CHAPTER 4: The Dark May Be Rising  
  
A metallic click and dull thump woke Will in the middle of the night, but when he fully awoke at the sound of something like a lamp crashing downstairs, he remembered it was probably early morning. Then it hit him. There was someone in the house. He needed to go down and see who it was.  
He crept quietly down one flight of stairs to the second story from his attic bedroom. Then he heard muffled voices not too far away, but on the same floor. It was coming from the bit of hallway right outside Anne's room. Growing anxious now, he crept a bit quicker and peered around the corner to where the voices were coming from.  
At first, all he could make out were four human shapes in the corridor outside Anne's room. But when he adjusted to the light a little more, he saw two of the shapes were Derrick and Jack, Anne's brothers! The other two shapes Will didn't recognize, but he instantly felt a bad vibe radiating off of all four figures, but especially the two strangers. The same vibe I used to get when someone of the Dark was near... Will thought. He tried frantically to warn Anne inside of her room.  
Anne! Anne! Get up, Anne!! Oh, why do you have to be a heavy sleeper?! It was no use. An Old One's telepathy could only work on the top layer of the mind when one was asleep, and since Anne was a heavy sleeper, her mind couldn't be accessed when asleep because everything she thought would be on a deeper level of her mind. Just great! The one time I need to talk to her, and I can't! I'll just see what those guys are up to and try to stop them... I can't risk anything happening to her. But, I don't think I'll try to take them head on, because they might be possessed by the Dark, and I'm way out of practice fighting against strong Dark forces.  
For the next couple seconds, Will just watched, trying to make out what the foursome was trying to accomplish where they were huddled. Then, just as he was gathering strength to approach them head on, with the element of surprise on his side, one of the unidentified strangers spoke in a rushed whisper.  
"Nicholas... will you hurry up? We've only got a couple more minutes before we can safely be down here... without the risk of one of the others showing up."  
"I don't know what's taking me so long... I just can't seem to pick the lock! It's like there's some sort of force keeping the room secure... maybe we should come back tomorrow night for the girl." The one Will supposed was named Nicholas spoke.  
"That would mean even more risk... we were supposed to have this completely done tonight! The Boss won't appreciate this... and it would be best if we could get the girl instead of just these two nitwits who have next to no influence over Stanton..." The first person spoke again. The other two figures with Nicholas and the other man who had spoken never uttered a word. This was curious to Will, who wondered why they were there if not to help the other two.  
Another thump was heard from the floor above Will and the group. Everyone's head jerked up, including the silent duo, and as they lifted their faces, Will saw the distinct jaw line and chin of the Bet quintuplets.  
Will had a sharp intake of breath. What? Some of Anne's brothers?  
"Bryan, please. We gotta go now. That was probably one of them waking up. What if they come down here and see us?" Nicholas spoke.  
"Fine. Hurry. We have to get these idiots back in their rooms. I hope you remember where their rooms are... I sure don't. Come on."  
"Yeah, I remember. Make them come." Nicholas started walking the opposite way down the hallway from where Will was hiding.  
"Uh... come on, idiots... why aren't they following?" Bryan asked as he started down the hallway after Nicholas.  
"You have to address them by their names to command them."  
"Uh, what were their names again?"  
"Jack and Derrick."  
Will's eyes went wide as Bryan gave the two mute humans a command.  
"Jack, Derrick. Come."  
All four figures disappeared around the corner. Then Will heard footsteps coming his way at his back. He turned around to see Shane rubbing his eyes and slouching toward him.  
"Oh, hey, Will. I'm lost. Where's the bathroom?"  
Will felt relieved that he didn't sense a dark power being emitted from Shane's aura. "Oh. Uh, well, you just passed one. Just there." He pointed behind Shane and led the way to the nearest bathroom as far away as he could from the hallway where the Dark foursome had been. He stayed in the hallway while Shane used the bathroom to make sure the group didn't come back to hurt Shane, and to mentally check everyone's location and state in the house.  
When Shane entered the bathroom, Will sat against the wall near it. He put his face down in his hands and pulled his knees up. He concentrated hard. The first aura he located was Shane's, a completely Dark-free one. Then, he located Anne in her bedroom, her aura untouched, telling Will she was fine. Will heaved a sigh of relief. Okay, then was Colin in his and Shane's room upstairs, with a clean aura. But then, Will was surprised to locate both Derrick and Jack in their shared room on the same floor as he was. How could they have gotten there that fast? He thought. They were fast asleep. But, when Will felt their auras, he found them tinted with Dark. A good portion of them were possessed. It must have been those two Dark workers. Will reasoned. But wait! Where are the Dark workers?  
Will couldn't locate the two Dark-marked creatures anywhere in the house. How could they have left without me sensing it? It was too much to handle all at once. Just this morning Will had thought that nothing even faintly Dark had been left on the planet. And now... Now there were at least two completely Dark fledgling roaming about, with a Boss? Possessing humans and even breaking into his own house?  
Just then Shane finished up and came out of the bathroom. "You tired too?" he asked Will, when he saw him rubbing his eyes in concentration.  
Will faked it. He couldn't have been more awake if he tried. He just couldn't make sense of anything. "Yeah, tired. You done? I'll show you back to your room." He stood up and walked back in the direction of Shane's room. Shane shuffled along behind him.  
Once Shane was back in the safety of his room, Will searched again for the two Dark creatures, Bryan and Nicholas', auras. They were still absent from as far as Will's mind could reach, and even though it was in a rusty state from not being used for a long time, it could still reach pretty far outside the house.  
Temporarily satisfied that they were gone, and wouldn't try another entry into the house until at least the next night, Will walked off to his own room on the floor below. In bed, trying to get to sleep, Will found that he still couldn't make sense of the situation. Eventually, he tired, and as he drifted off to sleep, his last thought was "What about Derrick and Jack?" 


	5. The Calm Before the Storm

Chapter 5: The Calm before the Storm  
  
The next morning, Will woke from a pleasant dream, not concerning any of the happenings of the previous night. But, as he cleared his thoughts and sat up in bed, he started as he remembered. He jumped out of bed and into his clothes, hurriedly brushed his teeth and raced downstairs. There he found Anne at the table in the process of toasting waffles and micro-waving sausages for breakfast. Her brothers were also seated at the table, and the group was in conversation about one of Anne's previous boyfriends. That's all that Will caught of the conversation, because when he entered the kitchen, the conversation came to an unnatural halt as everyone looked up at Will.  
Will raised an eyebrow. "Good morning, everyone. And I thought I was an early riser. Hmm. What are you all talking about?" He glanced at everyone, but paused when he came to Derrick and Jack, who still had a tainted aura. They didn't notice anything.  
Anne stood up and turned around to face Will. "Ha ha. Early riser, indeed. It's ten o'clock, smart one." She caught his hand in hers and kissed him lightly on the lips.  
This time Will raised both eyebrows in shock. "Ten o'clock?! We were supposed to meet Merriman this morning. Where is he?"  
"That old guy Anne told us about? He called this morning before you or Anne was awake. He told us to tell you that he couldn't make it this morning because of some extended house rental problems or something along those lines." Colin told Will as he began picking up dishes from the table that some of the guys had already finished with.  
"Oh. That's actually okay, then. We can spend the morning hanging out or something." Will suggested of the quintuplets as he poured himself a glass of orange juice for breakfast as the kitchen's counter. Anne started helping Colin with the dishes.  
"Actually, I think yesterday was a pretty tiring day for all of us. I think I wouldn't mind spending today relaxing, if that's alright. Is it?" Derrick commented.  
"Yeah, and we might've gotten food poisoning from that shifty-eyed fast-food place employee last night. I'm not feeling too good, and he was really freaky." Jack added.  
Will laughed. "Alright, that's great. Maybe I can still get together with Merriman today, then." He washed his orange juice glass as Anne and Colin finished the other dishes.  
"Cool, thanks Will. I'll be resting in my room if anyone needs me." Derrick said. Jack nodded and followed Derrick up to his room to rest, also. Shane, Colin, Anne, and Will remained in the kitchen.  
"Well, I'm not feeling sick at all, how about you, Colin?" Shane asked.  
"Nope. Oh well. What do you think about doing today?"  
"Actually, I was thinking about going for a walk around town. You know, pick up some English chicks... Should be a lotta fun. You in?" Shane smirked and Colin rolled his eyes. "Oh well, yeah. But seriously, dude, I'll go out for a walk around the area. Hopefully I won't get lost, but I'll find a pay phone if I do. Anyone want to come?" Everybody shook their head, and Will glanced out the window above the sink, wondering about the weather. There was a fine blanket of snow on the ground and everything in sight, but the sun was shining brightly and the thermometer showed an unreasonably high temperature for having snowed just the previous night.  
"Okay, then. I'll see you all later." Shane shrugged and donned his heavy boots and coat that had dried from the night before overnight. He started out on his walk from the kitchen door waving 'bye to all of them before shutting it.  
"Oops. I better go get dressed, I think. I'll be back down in a minute, and maybe we can all do something fun, unlike all of the weirdo brothers?" Colin smiled warmly and trotted upstairs.  
"You gonna get dressed, too, Anne?" Will asked, noticing she was still in her tank top and his old boxers.  
"Nah, I don't think so. Maybe later. I'm feeling lazy. Do we have anything real planned for today anyway?"  
"No. I guess that makes sense. So, what should we do with Colin?"  
Anne didn't answer, but walked over and stood close to Will's body and wrapped her arms around his neck. He responded by putting his arms around her waist and pressing her close. She kissed him gently on the lips and whispered, "Do you like them?"  
He smiled and kissed her back a little harder. "They're great. But there's something I have to talk to you about soon...It's about last night." Seeing the concerned but tired look on her face, Will decided it could wait. All he wanted to do now was make her happy, and he wouldn't be able to do that by related the previous night's discoveries. "Don't worry about it now, Anne. It can wait."  
Anne smiled. "Thanks, Will." They kissed each other more romantically, hugging each other close until Colin reappeared from dressing. The couple broke away with one last hug, but kept holding hands.  
Colin grinned. Now don't be doing anything naughty, Will Stanton. That's my baby sister you got there." he said lightly.  
"Colin!" Anne blushed red.  
Will smirked and smiled at the siblings. "Don't worry, Colin. You can trust me. Your sister is something special." he kissed Anne's temple lightly.  
"Okay, that'll do for the time being." Colin gave a mock serious face, but ruined by breaking out smiling. "So, what's on tap for the entertainment front today?"  
"I think we should stay home, it'll be okay this first day. Will?"  
"Oh yeah. That's great. How about some card games? Colin?"  
"Awesome! How about B.S.? Anne's great at that."  
Will smiled and left to get some cards from a closet as Colin and Anne seated themselves at the table.  
When Will was out of the room and the siblings were seated, Colin asked Anne seriously, "Anne, do you really want Will? I guess I need a while to get used to him, and he seems like a great guy, but as your older brother I need to look out for you in things like this."  
Anne laughed, but took Colin's question seriously. "Yeah, older by like two minutes. But yeah, I'm totally sure about this. Will's better than great. He's the best there is! I really, truly, love him, Colin."  
Colin breathed a small sigh of relief as Anne smiled at him reassuringly. "Good. If you have any problems, remember, I'm always here for you."  
"Thanks, Colin. I love you, bro." Anne reached across the table to hug her brother thanks. Then, Will reentered with a deck of playing cards and a couple of board games.  
"B.S. first? Then I thought a couple of these might be interesting. How about it?"  
"Great!" Colin exclaimed, seeing his favorite board game, Trivial Pursuit, in the stack Will had brought in.  
"Cool." Anne agreed as she started shuffling the cards Will had passed to her as he set down the board games on the countertop.  
As Will took a seat at the head of the table, Anne on his right and Colin on his left, Anne dealt the whole deck out evenly.  
The trio enjoyed their midday together, and was joined by Shane after he had come home from his walk. He joined in as they were playing Trivial Pursuit. It turned out that both Colin and Shane, on a team together, were really good at the game and both Anne and Will, the other team, were really, well, bad. But, as Colin and Shane breezed their way to victory, everyone laughed hard and loved the time they had together.  
Halfway through their game of Pictionary, the phone rang. It interrupted Will's and Anne's turn, where they were on their way to an easy victory against the brothers. They were more artistic than the Bet guys, but they both thought it immense fun and only very minor cheating to communicate the answers to their drawings telepathically, making the brothers gape at their "skill". Will got up to answer the phone after he guessed what Anne was drawing in only a couple of seconds, again to the amazement of Shane and Colin, who were frantically searched for evidence of them cheating.  
"Hallo?" Will answered the phone.  
"Will. It's Merriman. Listen, I probably can't explain this to you on the phone, but you must get over here now. I'm at the church. Meet me outside here in 15 minutes."  
"Merriman? Wait... what? Wait! I can't... Oh!" Will scowled. The phone line had gone dead. It sounded like what Merriman needed was something urgent. But how would he explain to Anne, Colin, and Shane that he suddenly needed to go? He couldn't very well tell them about Merriman... Will had a hunch that what Merriman wanted was Old Ones business, and didn't want it to become anyone else's. But what other way was there? Will had no choice but to tell.  
Will decided as he casually strolled back into the kitchen that he would tell Anne, through telepathy, but he would make up a story so that Colin and Shane wouldn't know.  
Anne, that was Merriman. He sounded urgent. I need to get to the church in the next fifteen minutes. What should I tell Colin and Shane?  
Will? Merriman wanted something, urgently? What could it be?  
Anne, I don't know. I just need to get to where he is as fast as I can. What should I do?  
Uh, okay. Maybe you should just tell them that a friend called and wanted you to go over there for some time to have a chat or something?  
Okay, I'll tell them that. I hope it works.  
Don't worry, I'll back you up.  
"Hey, guys? That was just one of my old friends who called to say he was in town, but just for a couple of hours. Do you mind if I quit the game to go see him?" Will inquired of the Bet siblings still seated around the table.  
"Was it Melvin, Will? Melvin Black or something? You told me a couple of days ago that he was traveling around the country." Anne tried to help.  
"Uh, yeah. Melvin. So, you wouldn't mind me taking off for an hour or so? It won't be long, and I have a lot of stuff to catch up with him on."  
Colin and Shane just shrugged. "Nope, we don't mind. We'll just hang out."  
"Thanks so much, guys. I'm terribly sorry about this happening so suddenly. I'll be back as soon as I can." Will felt relieved that the boys weren't acting suspicious, and threw on a long, heavy coat and boots for trudging through the snow, even though the snow was thinning because of the sun's rays. He walked over to Anne and kissed her on the cheek, and said his last goodbyes. Then, he casually strolled out the door and closed it behind him. Once outside, he began a fast jog to the church in order to meet Merriman's time frame.  
Will?  
Yes, Anne?  
Be careful, whatever Merriman wants you for.  
Thanks, Anne. I love you.  
I love you, too. 


	6. There is No Plan

CHAPTER 6: There Is No Plan  
  
As he neared the church, Will saw Merriman pacing up and down its walkway clearer and clearer with every jogging step he took. Merriman looked up as he sensed Will approaching, and ran to meet him.  
"Will. This is serious. I don't know how to explain it to you, but..." Merriman paused.  
"The Dark is back?" Will inquired, having a hunch that that's what Merriman wanted to explain to him.  
Merriman looked up suspiciously. "Yes, but how...?"  
Will's face grew dark. "I know because of a recent brush with some of its fledglings. Last night I heard something and got up to see what it was, and found two Dark, Bryan and Nicholas, I think I caught their names, and it seemed as though they had possessed Derrick and Jack and were trying to get into Anne's room. Something stopped them, though, and they left. And I thought it was even more evident that they were doing something bad, because this morning both Jack and Derrick claimed to feel sick, and they spent the day in their rooms. How do you know of the Dark's rising?"  
"That's a different story for later. But, who are Derrick, Jack, and those others you mentioned? Should I know about them?"  
"Oh, I forgot you didn't know. They're Anne's brothers, who came from Washington to visit up here because her parents are on a trip. Derrick, Shane, Colin, Jack, and then Anne's the youngest. So our America voyage shall have to be detained for a week or so. We need to have this Dark thing settled by then. Could you explain to me how the Dark has come back? I thought they were totally vanquished."  
Merriman took a deep sigh. "Apparently not. My best guess is that one of them found a way to hide from us somehow, through time or some other method of skilled disguise, but even I don't know for sure. I've already contacted some other Old Ones, and they don't know, either. But the important thing is that we find out about what they're up to now. If they really did get into your house last night, they probably already have a plan to destroy you. Who knows about the rest of us? But we need to figure out all we can to prevent any injury. What do you propose we do?"  
"You're asking me? You were always the head of the missions. You mean to tell me you don't have a plan?"  
"Will. I'm as surprised as you are at the Dark's sudden appearance. And since they were in your house, last night, and I just found out about it this morning, I thought you would have some more time to think about it than I would have."  
Will looked disheartened. He was trusting Merriman to know something he didn't, because that was how it always was. Now what, that the person he always counted on to have a plan, didn't? It was Will's job now. But was he ready to handle it? Will paused before speaking again. "I think that..."  
But just then, Will heard Anne shriek his name mentally.  
Will!  
Will didn't have much time to think. His face transformed into an expression of horror, as he muttered, "Oh my God." He then spun around on his heels and raced back towards his house.  
Will! What? Merriman communicated as he ran to catch up with Will.  
I left Anne and her brothers at the house. I didn't think the Dark would try to penetrate my house again until tonight... But something's happening, and I have to save them! It's my fault they're in danger in the first place! Will sped up and reached his house in a hurry. 


End file.
